


Crystal Raiders

by orphan_account



Series: BorderVerse AU [3]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games), Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Blood, Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, Crimson Raiders - Freeform, Crossover, Crossover : Canon Changes, Crystal Gems, Crystal Raiders, Gun Violence, Guns, Gunshot Wounds, Shooting Guns, Sirens, Swearing, Violence, crossover AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-02-22 23:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13177254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The Vault Hunters Came To Pandora For A Multitude Of Reasons, Including Finding The Vault.A Mysterious Alien Construct Said To Hold Treasure, Knowledge, And Power Unimaginable.Betrayed By A Man Named Handsome Jack, They Find Themselves Stranded In The Windshear Waste, With Only A Bumbling CL4P-TP Unit And A Mysterious Guardian Angel To Lead Them To Safety And The Beginning Of The Path For Revenge On Handsome Jack(Steven Universe & Borderlands Crossover AU)





	1. Another Story

**Author's Note:**

> Follow Me On Tumblr @ Yourfavoritebluedinosaur.tumblr.com
> 
> Thank You Jadpeanut For Letting Me Write A Fic To Your Awesome Idea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a modified version of the BL2 intro by Marcus

**_Another Story_ **

 

**_So, you want to hear another story, huh? One of Vault Hunters, Crystal Gems, and where the very fate of Pandora hangs in the balance? If not, too bad! I’m telling you anyway._ **

 

**_First, there was the Vault, an alien prison opened with a mystical key. To the warriors who opened it, the Vault was just a container of tentacles and disappointment. They vanished into the wastelands, certain that the Vault held no treasure at all, certain that the secrets and treasures of legend, they had shed blood, emptied magazine after magazine, and defended from the Atlas corporation and it’s malicious forces, the Crimson Lance, were false._ **

 

**_They were wrong._ **

 

**_The Vault’s opening triggered the growth of Eridum, a priceless alien element, that had been long thought lost, by few denizens that knew of it’s existence._ **

 

**_Soon, the rare and valuable mineral emerged all across Pandora. Its appearance attracted many. Including the nefarious and opportunistic…Hyperion corporation._ **

 

**_They came to Pandora to mine Eridium, and bring order to the savage planet. Crushing bandits and simple settlers, alike, under their boot heels during their blood soaked conquest._ **

 

**_Through their excavations, Hyperion uncovered evidence of an even greater Vault. One that had been hidden for millennia, from not only the people of Pandora, but the Universe itself._ **

 

**_Their leader vowed to find it, to use its power to civilize the Borderlands once and for all. Laying waste to not only the bandits that called it home, but it’s mysterious and noble protectors the Crystal Gems, of which it was rumored he had once been affiliated._ **

 

**_But Hyperion weren’t the only ones searching for the next Vault’s alien power._ **

 

**_After all the call of danger and loot is not so easily resisted._ **

 

**_Certain warriors came to Pandora in droves to uncover its hidden secrets. Some would call them adventurers. Others call them fools. But I…I call them Vault Hunters._ **

 

**_Our story begins with them and with a man named_ **

 

**_Handsome Jack..._ **


	2. It's Just The Beginning But It Feels Like The Last Stand

**It’s The Beginning But It Feels Like The Last Stand**

Gaige felt her heart pounding in her chest. It was like a series of rapid shotgun blasts, each one more deafening than the last, to the point, she was certain that if it didn’t slow down that someone would hear it and find her. Ice cold sweat ran down her brow, which would more than likely leave a moist outline in the shape of her goggles, not only in her bangs but on her forehead.

Lifting her goggles off her forehead, she wiped the sweat from her brow feeling relived her bangs weren’t soaked in sweat, before starting to take a slow and deep breath.

“I’m okay. I’m oh-kay. I am o-k. I am okey-dokey!” she told herself in-between slow, heavy breaths, trying her hardest to ignore the rather unsettling sound of the faint breeze through the thin cracks of the train car's sliding door.

Swallowing she looked around the incredibly cramped Hyperion supply train-car, she had managed to sneak on, when the bounty hunters, who had been pursuing her since the “incident” on Eden-5, been arguing with the train’s conductor, about delaying their journey to Tartarus Station.

She still couldn’t believe she was really doing this. She was really on the run because of a…a, well…miscalibration.

An admittedly very serious one, bbbuuuttt a miscalibration none the less.

“I’m really doing this.” She told herself as she slowly slipped back on her goggles, “I’m…well, I’m really doing this. I’m…I’m,” She began as she looked around the dimly lit area, she had been hiding for the past three hours. There were a handful of deactivated Loader Bots, hanging on large yellow racks, their lone red tinted sensor, cold and lifeless, as they cast faint yet imposing shadows on the walls and floors of the train car. Lifeless and silent bodyguards waiting for her to slip up, to make the faintest noise that would alert them to her presence. Alerting them to the scared, teenage fugitive hiding on their train.

The scared, teenage fugitive that was hiding on this stars forsaken train…by herself.

Sure she had Deathtrap and the Vladof pistol, her dad had given her before he “booked” her a trip her to Pandora but how long would they last against, Hyperion Loader Bots which had been designed with the finest combat A.I., the controversial weapons company could design.

“I can’t believe I’m really doing this. What the Hell am I doing?! I should just go home and…and…arrgh! Damn it!” She whisper shouted, quickly covering her mouth as she heard the sound of footsteps outside the train-car she was hiding in, “Crap! Crap! Crap!” She hissed as she heard a strong feminine voice speak.

“What the Hell!? Is that a psycho?!”

The train which had already was already been going at an agonizingly slow pace came to a halt with a slight jolt making Gaige, bump her head into the one of the racks, and release a grunt of pain.

“Shit!” Gaige hissed, as her entire body tensed up waiting for the flurry of bullets to penetrate the side of the train-car but instead of a storm of bullets and flying shards of metal, utter gibberish occurred instead.

“I’M THE CONDUCTOR OF THE POOP TRAIN!” A gruff masculine voice roared.

Against her better judgement Gaige snorted, before tensing up as she heard the sound of gun fire, followed faintly by the sound of quick footsteps and the screech of nails scratching on the metal roof of a neighboring train-car and a cacophony of maniacal laughter.

“Stripe the flesh!” The gruff voice from earlier bellowed over the deafening sound of gunfire, “SALT THE WOUND!”

What the hell was going on? Should she…help? NO! That was stupid! She could escape in the middle of the chaos and hideout until another train showed up, but there was no telling of how long that would be. It could be a few minutes or a few hours.

Stars! It could be a few days till the next train came.

“Screw it!” She hissed as she shot up, drawing her pistol. She had not been scared when a piece of sheet metal had cut through her arm, slicing the bone, “And I won’t be scared now.” She told herself as she rushed to the sliding door of the train car when she heard,

“Turn around, Pretty Lady!” followed by the sound of a brief agonizing scream.

Swallowing she grabbed the handle of the door and flung the door to the side, seeing,

Nothing.

Nothing but a barren desert that stretched for miles in almost every direction. About fifteen feet to her left she saw a small train stop where a blue haired woman wearing a bright yellow and black leotard with grey cargo jeans with navy blue accents and a massive muscular psycho was cutting down a gang of bandits, or at least she assumed the cackling hunched figures swarming at the Psycho from multiple directions were bandits. Leaping down from the train car, she stumbled as her feet hit the uneven sands, before looking up at the Psycho as his buzzaxe dug into one of the bandits necks, spraying his masked face and chest with blood, as it sawed through the muscles, arteries, and bone before completely decapitating them.

“Whoa. That’s metal.” She uttered.

“I’M GONNS PUT MY PAIN INTO YOUR SOUL!” The Psycho voice roared at a terrified bandit, making it keel over in petrified horror from the nonsensical threat as another leapt off the roof of the train station at him, only to surrounded by an orb of swirling blue energy with a murky black core.

The orb of energy held, the struggling and wildly screeching bandit, in the air as a prisoner.

“What the fu-” Gaige began as the imposing Psycho buried the buzzaxe he was carrying into the bandits skull, coating his already stained torso with even more dark crimson blood, that was mixed with presumably skull and brain matter, before the orb disappeared, dropping the bandit's limp body unceremoniously to the train platform.

She was so shocked by the orb of blue energy and the absolutely huge implications of where, or rather whom, it originated and the horrifically gory scene that had preceded and followed it’s creation at she wasn’t aware of the sound of heavy foot falls in the sand behind her.

“Damn! That was badass!” A voice said from behind her making her jump.

“Hell yeah, it was!” Another voice added, this one had a thick accent.

Quickly turning around Gaige aimed her pistol at a tall man with light brown hair and a bandage over his left eyebrow, dressed in a faded brown leather jacket with a three eyed skull on the left shoulder, a black pack rested on his back, and a pair of faded green cargo jeans that had various pouches on wrapped around the waist. A black harness strap with a black camera rested on right shoulder and around his neck rested a pair of grime covered dog tags and a dirty wedding ring.

There was also a short, muscular man with dark blue hair pulled into a faux hawk and in a weathered orange shirt riddled with holes that displayed the white shirt underneath, a white vault symbol was crudely painted in the center. A worn brown leather harness filled with various types of ammo tucked into the bullet loops. A white belt with a large skull and cross bones designed belt buckle, had a handful of worn pouches on it. A grime colored orange bandana was wrapped around the upper left thigh of his dirty blue jeans. Around his thick neck was a chipped and faded gold chain attached to a diamond shaped locket with a lifted diamond in the center that was painted a dark pink.

“Woah! Take it easy kid!” The brown haired man ordered as he put his hands in the air, “We’re Vault Hunters like you!” He shouted as the other just walked over and took the pistol from her shaky hands.

“The safety's on.” He explained as he clicked the safety off before he passed her pistol back.

“Wait what?” Gaige looked at the side of the pistol, “The safety was on!? Seriously!”

“Yup.” He replied with a hearty laugh.

“What kind of Vault Hunter leaves the safety on.” The strong feminine voice asked.

“Someone who’s not a Vau-” Gaige began, stopping as she saw the blue tattoo’s running up her left side, “Siren. You’re a Siren!” She squealed, “I KNEW IT! That totally explains the whole black whole whooshy thing!”

“Yes I am a Siren.” Maya replied with a smirk, before turning to face the brown haired guy, “So this is the train the Guardian Angel said was heading to Opportunity?”

“Yup.” He answered as he thrust his hand outward, “I'm Axton, the big guy's Salvador, and you’re the Siren, the Guardian Angel spoke of.”

“And she is the Mechomancer, Gaige.” A feminine voice stated in Gaige's ear as a the image of a blue hued woman with black hair and blue appeared in her vision, “I was worried that you might not show up. I promise I will explain everything later, all I ask is you trust me and your fellow Vault Hunters.”

“Um s-s-sure,” Gaige stammered, “Why not.”

“Good.” The woman replied with a smile, “Now get on the train. It’s headed to Opportunity, where your journey will begin.” She ordered gently, “But be on your guard, Pandora is not a welcoming place.” She added in a dark tone, her entire image flickering.

“You heard her, kid. Let’s go.” Axton ordered as he led them to a passenger car with a bright gold Hyperion logo upon it.

Ignoring the pit in her stomach and the countless atrocities that Hyperion had publicly committed and probably double that amount behind closed doors, she stepped onto the train. It was fairly plain and had only two rows of golden yellow leather seats, one of which was occupied by a person dressed in a black and grey jumpsuit with an elongated black helmet with a plain black visor to match.

“That’s Zer0,” Axton said as he took the seat behind them, “he doesn’t say much.” Zer0 flashed a dark holographic red zero on his visor, as he finished.

  
“Cool helmet.” Gaige told him as she flopped down next to him, before looking back at the sign hanging towards the front of the train car, that said Welcome To Pandora.

“I know.” Zer0 replied in a robotic voice, as the train slowly started to take off.

“Next stop, Opportunity Station. Forty five minutes.” A robotic feminine voice stated over the intercom.

-

“Five minutes till we reach Opportunity Station.” The Hyperion voice stated over the intercom.

“Cool.” Gaige beamed, making Axton chuckle and Maya give her a entertained smirk, “What?”

“Nothing, kid.” Axton answered, with a smirk, as Maya just shook her head, wondering if she had been so bubbly and eager when she had been Gaige's a-

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of -

“Hey! They’re playing music, that’s cool.” Gaige noted as she started to hum along, “Mmmm!” as a resounding bang rung out from the front of the train, shortly followed by a heavy thud and a lighter thud shortly after.

“The hell was that?” Axton questioned as he shot up out of his seat and instinctively activated the shield on his waist.

“Something is very wrong” Zer0 noted as he stood up and began looking around.

Following their lead Gaige made her way to the middle of the train car.

“Yeah, I can't see where you comin' from,” The music coming from the intercom began, underlied by the sound of lumbering footsteps from the front and the back of the train car.

Turning towards the front of the train car, Gaige felt her stomach drop as she watched two Loader bots lumber into the train car, and the inviting, Welcome Vault Hunters sign hanging above them dropped to ground, revealing a scarlet sign with flames on it’s base and a sinister version of Handsome Jack, that said large letters,

**To Your Doom**

**(Nothing Personal Kiddos)**

Gaige was momentarily paralyzed as everyone leapt into action, in Zer0's case, quite literally did so, she saw him leap up to the escape hatch on the train car’s roof from the corner of her eye.

“Kid! Start shooting!” Axton ordered as he rushed past her and then slid on his knees, reaching the center of the train car where he dispatched a turret that began opening fire on the Loaders, “Oh this is gonna be badass!” He cheered as he digistructed a massive Maliwan rocket launcher. Deftly aiming it the Loaders and Hyperion soldiers rushing in from the back of the train car, he fired it with a confident smirk on his face, “Hell yeah!” He cheered as the rocket destroyed two Loaders and the two rows of chairs at the back of the train car.

Shielding her face from the heat of the explosion heat of the explosion and oncoming shrapnel with her right arm, Maya lifted her left with a sly smirk, the blue tattoo's on it pulsed with blue light as she trapped a Loader in a ball of energy and flung it right past Gaige, through the open train door where Salvador was hanging on with a huge grin on his face.

Swinging himself into the train car, his feet hitting the train car with a heavy thud, he digistructed a Vladof assault rifle and used it to bludgeon a Hyperion solider rushing at Gaige. Taking the assault rifle the soldier had been carrying, he cracked a huge grin.

“This is fucking awesome!” He roared opening fire on the Loaders and soldiers rushing into the train car, “Hahaha! Come on kid, START SHOOTING! IT’S AWESOME!” He bellowed as he turned his assault rifles towards the ceiling and giddily opened fire as a decapitated flew past the open train car door.

Watching the chaos of the battle on the train car unfold around her, Gaige felt her heart race in her chest. The way it had when she was going to was going to help Maya, at the train station. Her initial fear was quickly forgotten as the rush of adrenaline pumping through her veins overcame her. Grabbing the pistol from her waist she turned and aimed it at the soldier, that had slipped past Maya, and Salvador. He held a bright gold shotgun in his massive hands and his bald head was covered in pale white scars.

“Time to die, you bandit piece of shit.” He snarled as he rapidly closed the distance between him and Gaige.

“You first, douchebag.” Gaige sneered as she started to fire at him, her heart racing faster and faster as she fired shot after shot in quick succession, “THIS IS SO AWESOME! SMASH THE SYSTEM!” She roared, not noticing that somehow every last shot she fired, missed the man who guffawed at her.

“Heh. Ha-ha! That’s fucking pathetic.” He mocked, as he pumped the shotgun that Gaige heard with crystal clarity despite the deafening chaos of the battle occurring around her, “Now, now it’s time to die bandit.”

“Damn right it is.” She replied, as she lifted her robotic arm, “Fuck the First Law, Deathtrap get him!” She ordered, her pupils expanding as a massive robot digistructed in front of her.

It was at least eight feet tall, floated in the air and various motifs covered it’s red and silver frame. It’s large red sensor was locked on the who stumbled back as he fired off a single shot before exploding into a crimson mist littered with torn flesh and shredded muscle as it's massive claws ripped through him. Turning to face Gaige, she noticed two large scratches underneath the bleeding heart motif from where it had been shot by the soldier.

“Hell yeah!” She told Deathtrap, before she fired a shot through the sensor of a Loader that was attempting to flank Axton, “Noob.”

“Nice shot.” Axton remarked, “Now let's find out what's behind door number one.” He ordered as he made his way to the door in front of the train car, followed by Maya, Salvador, and Gaige who came up the rear, flinching back as Zer0 dropped in from a hole on the train car’s roof, “Ready?” Axton inquired.

“Hell yeah!”

“Yes.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Let’s do this.” Gaige growled as Axton booted open the door, the song that had still been playing over the intercom came to an abrupt stop.

Rushing into the room, Gaige felt her heart stop as she saw the crude mannequin sitting in a beaten up office chair in the center of the dynamite filled room slowly turn to face them. A crooked smile filling the hobbled together representation of Handsome Jack.

“It’s really cute that y’all that your heroes of this little adventure,” Handsome Jack teased over the intercom of the dynamite covered mannequin stated in a smug tone, as the timer on the bundle of dynamite attached to his chest counted down, “But you’re not. Welcome to Pandora, kiddos!” The recording teased as the countdown reached it’s climax.

“Run.” Axton ordered, “RUN!” He roared as the mounds of dynamite exploded in a blinding flash of white light, ripping through the train car sending it and a half dozen others flying off of the electromagnetic rail and into the snow covered tundra.

\---

“Fugh! Tha hurt!” Gaige groaned as she slowly came to consciousness and lifted her head out of the half melted blood stained snow, “Shit.” She grunted as a sharp pain shot through her right arm, as she attempted to push herself up. Several small pieces of metal shrapnel were imbedded in it and judging by the pain shooting through it every time she tried to move it, it was broken. “Deathtrap. Deathtrap, where are…hrgh…you?” Slowly rolling onto her back in the freezing snow, she slowly sat up looking around the flaming wreckage of the train, littering the misty and snow covered landscape, “Crap.” She muttered as she remembered that Deathtrap had shielded her from most of the blast and probably de-digiconstructed in the process.

“Pinche tú madre.” Salvador groaned from next to her as he pushed himself out of the snow, making her flinch, “That hurt!” He growled ripping a piece of shrapnel from his upper arm, flicking it into the snow, “I am going to kill that son of a puta!” He snarled as he stood up, and ripped out a scratched and battered assault rifle from the hands of a dead Hyperion solider.

“Not before I do.” A crackling robotic voice wheezed as Zer0, slowly stood up, using his sword to prop himself up, the faint glimmer of an enraged pink hued iris visible through his cracked ebony visor that was displaying an angry face emoticon, “My blade will be stained red. His foul blood shall run.” His entire body seemed to flicker before Gaige and Salvador’s eyes, “Now let’s find the others.” He ordered as he shakingly took a step forward.

“You think they’re still alive?” Gaige inquired as she ripped the tattered fabric of her right sleeve, and used it to wipe away the warm blood running down her face, “Hfft! Shit!” She hissed as a bone chilling wind blew across the tundra and came into contact with the gashes on her arms, legs, and the one on her forehead that was hidden slightly by her now cracked goggles.

“We survived.” Salvador answered as he scanned the wreckage.

Zer0 said nothing as he followed after him and began to search through the wreckage for Maya and Axton. Tossing the blood coated piece of fabric into the snow, Gaige slowly stood up trying not to jostle her broken arm and began searching through the wreckage when she heard a robotic voice.

“Great.” The robotic voice deadpanned, “Yet another dead Vault Hunter.” It groaned before grunting, “Handsome, hrrgh…Jack's been busy.”

Slowly walking towards the sound of the voice, Gaige was surprised to see a Hyperion CL4P-TP steward bot struggling to pull something out of the snow. She had thought they had all been discontinued and scrapped after Hyperion’s switched it’s focus to manufacturing more military focused robots and of course there was the uprising one of them had led, that probably factored into their discontinuation.

“Ugh! Let go of me.” Maya groaned as the CL4P-TP pulled her out of the snow.

“Maya?!” Gaige said with a bright smile, “Yes!” She cheered, “I found Maya!” She shouted as she attempted to rush to her side, not noticing that the CL4P-TP was staring at her with what would be best described as pure, unadulterated joy,

“Wait a minute!?” The robot shouted looking at Maya, “There are more of you!? And they're not dead either! YES!” It cheered, throwing up it’s arm in joy, “Now I can get off this glacier! Claptrap, your metaphorical ship has finally co-”

“Please, shut up.” Maya ordered as she slowly rolled into a sitting position, spitting out blood as she grabbed Gaige’s ice cold metal hand and slowly stood up, as Zer0 and Salvador made their way to the two of them.

“Wow! There are four of you! Yes! Yes! Yes! I really will be able to escape this ice covered wasteland!” The Robot cheered to itself, making Gaige chuckle before realizing that the soldier guy, the commando, Axton, wasn’t with them.

“You didn’t find Axton, did you?”

“No.” Salvador answered simply as Zer0 shook his head and kneeled down as he “Oh where are my manners!?” It questioned before it made a low whirring sound, “Manners protocol not located.” It stated in a low tone before returning to normal, “Anyways! Allow me to introduce myself then. I am a CL4P-TP steward bot, but my friends call me Claptrap!” He beamed, “Or well they would, if any of them were still alive. Or had existed in the first place!” He said it in a joking manner but the way his sensor dimmed implied it was anything but, “Oh! Well there’s Steven, he’s my friend,” He added happily before his sensor dimmed, “I think.”

“Who’s Steven?” Gaige inquired as she shivered, inhaling as her nose began to run, “What? It’s a normal question.” She added as she noticed the odd look Maya and Salvador gave her.

“Whatever! Here, take this.” Claptrap passed Maya, a beaten communicator, “I believe this ECHO communicator is yours and I totally didn't try and loot it from you because I thought you were dead.” He chuckled nervously as Maya took it from him, “Now come, come, friend. Let’s get you inside.”

“Inside where?” Gaige questioned as she looked around the at the wreckage littered tundra.

“Why my magnificent home, I made in a somewhat ominous cave using scrap and garbage!” Claptrap boasted, “You know what this is great! Now that I’ve met a group of mighty Vault Hunters, I can finally reunite the resistance in Sanctuary, take vengeance against Jack for killing my product line, and repair my central processor so I stop thinking out loud!” He cheered as rushed ahead of them away from the train wreckage, “I wonder what it’s like to have a belly button?” He questioned to himself moments later.

“I do not trust it.” Zer0 stated as he drew his blade.

“You should.” The Guardian Angel stated as she projected in Zer0's visor, “He may be…eccentric, but he means well.” The image of flickered, a faint blue appearing on the left side of her face, before she projected her visage to Gaige as well, “I promise, I’ll explain everything soon,” She flashed them both a kind smile, “but know this, you’re alive for a reason, and I…” She paused and looked down, her shimmering blue eyes were looking down and her bottom lip quivered “I'm…I’m here to help you.” She flickered for a moment, her heavy down trodden eyes were bright and full of hope again, “Now please follow him, he'll be able to help you I promise.”

“Should we trust her?” Maya questioned as she wiped the blood from her face.

“No.” Zer0 stated simply as he slowly started to follow after Claptrap, “But the cold will probably kill us.”

“Fair point.” Gaige noted as she started to trudge after Claptrap, ignoring the faint blur that seemed to be rushing towards the train wreck, from the corner of her right eye.


End file.
